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Carpe Signum: Signs Come Home

The COVID pandemic has wrought many changes in the printing industry in general and the sign industry in particular, but one interesting development has been an increase in residential signage. The market for this kind of signage may not disappear once the pandemic does (if the pandemic ever does)—and it can prove to be a lucrative opportunity worth seizing.

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

In the late 19th and early 20th century, printed and mailed postcards were the text messages of their day. People used to send jokes, gossip, or other messages back and forth via postcards, sometimes many a day. Today, text messages are the text messages of the day, but over the course of this year we have started to see signage start to take on a new, somewhat similar role in communications.

Back in the spring and early summer, when school graduations started being cancelled or transformed into “drive-by” graduations or something more like parades, what I alliteratively call “graduate graphics” started to proliferate. High schoolers, middle schoolers, even (in my neighborhood at least) fifth graders all got called out via lawn signs.

At the same time, homeowners would use lawn signs to communicate other messages, such as a school bus driver who lives on my block:


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About Richard Romano

Richard Romano is Managing Editor of WhatTheyThink.  He curates the Wide Format section on WhatTheyThink.com. He has been writing about the graphic communications industry for more than 25 years. He is the author or coauthor of more than half a dozen books on printing technology and business. His most recent book is “Beyond Paper: An Interactive Guide to Wide-Format and Specialty Printing.

Recent Articles from Richard Romano

WhatTheyThink Student of the Month: Adrian Martinez

WhatTheyThink Student of the Month: Adrian Martinez

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Meet Our Student of the Month: Adrian Martinez

Meet Our Student of the Month: Adrian Martinez

In partnership with the Foundation for Graphic Communication Education (formerly the Print & Graphics Scholarship Foundation), each month we profile a promising student in a graphic communications or related program. The goal is to raise awareness of graphic communications programs, as well as help students get a “leg up” on entering the industry after graduation. This month, we profile Adrian Martinez, a third-year student at the Illinois State University majoring in Graphic Communications Technology. Read More

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